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| PC maker Dell to cut 7,000 jobs | PC maker Dell to cut 7,000 jobs |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| At least 7,000 jobs are set to be lost at computer firm Dell after it said it would cut its global workforce by 10%. | At least 7,000 jobs are set to be lost at computer firm Dell after it said it would cut its global workforce by 10%. |
| The PC maker has struggled with falling sales and rising costs, prompting founder Michael Dell to take direct charge of the firm earlier this year. | The PC maker has struggled with falling sales and rising costs, prompting founder Michael Dell to take direct charge of the firm earlier this year. |
| Mr Dell said the job losses would be "difficult" but stressed they were critical if the firm was to deliver better value to customers. | Mr Dell said the job losses would be "difficult" but stressed they were critical if the firm was to deliver better value to customers. |
| The US firm employs more than 78,700 staff worldwide. | The US firm employs more than 78,700 staff worldwide. |
| Customer support | |
| Dell has found life difficult in the face of falling PC costs and tough competition from the likes of a resurgent Hewlett Packard. | |
| In response, it has overhauled its management team and focused on improving technical support for customers and moving into fast-growing markets like China and Brazil. | |
| It recently started selling PCs through Wal-Mart stores in the US. | |
| Despite this, Dell said it needed to substantially reduce its workforce over the next year to remain competitive. | |
| As well as the US, Dell has significant operations in both Europe and Asia. | |
| It said the scale of the cutbacks would vary across each region depending on current trading, and general business and legal considerations. | |
| "While reduction in headcount are always difficult for a company, we know these actions are critical to our ability to deliver unprecedented value to our customers," Mr Dell said. | |
| At the same time as announcing the job cuts, Dell actually reported a jump in first-quarter profits to $947m from $762m over the same period last year. | |
| It sales rose by about 1% to $14.6bn over the past three months. |